It is most desirable in wound treatment to provide an adhesive dressing which will maintain the desired moist environment promoting healing while preventing scab formation; and also permitting removal of wound fluid which can build up to a pressure bubble beneath the dressing, thereby undermining the adhesive seal to the skin and thus increasing the possibility of the wound being contacted by ambient contaminants, including, of course, microorganisms which can cause infection.
Seemingly, these two objectives are often at cross-purposes so that one of the two desired objectives is accomplished to the detriment of the other.
Yet, dressings fulfilling both objectives are heretofore disclosed in the art.
By way of illustration, reference may be made to U.S. Pat. No. 4,541,426 issued to Webster and the vented dressings described and claimed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,056,510 and copending application, Ser. No. 337,591 filed Apr. 13, 1989 and now U.S. Pat. No. 5,106,362, both in the name of Thomas H. Gilman and assigned to The Kendall Company, assignee of the instant invention.
A particularly efficacious wound dressing permitting removal of wound fluids while maintaining a moist environment is the vented dressing disclosed in the copending application of Hamzeh Karami and Thomas H. Gilman, Ser. No. 738,983 filed Jul. 29, 1991, and also assigned to the common assignee.
As is described and claimed therein, the vented wound dressing comprises a thin conformable sheet material, at least a portion of which is adapted for placement over a wound having a pressure-sensitive adhesive layer on one surface thereof, the adhesive layer being applied to provide repeating spaced areas free of adhesive. Preferably the non-adhesive areas are arranged in a geometric pattern. In any case, while the non-adhesive areas are shown for purposes of illustration as being generally circular, the configuration is not critical and they may be of any desired shape, e.g. oval, rectangular, arcuate, etc.
At least a portion of the repeating areas of no adhesive have slits extending through the thickness thereof to permit transfer of wound fluids through the sheet material unimpeded by the presence of adhesive material which can clog the slits and thereby inhibit fluid transfer therethrough.
As is further described and claimed therein, the aforementioned vented dressing, which will be termed hereinafter as the "primary dressing", meaning the dressing attached to the skin and covering the wound, will additionally contain thereover what is hereinafter termed a "secondary dressing" including an aborbent pad or the like providing a reservoir for receiving and retaining wound fluids diffusing through the slits in the primary dressing. Most preferably, a cover sheet providing a bacterial barrier is situated over the reservoir.
While providing an elegant wound dressing of simplified construction permitting removal of wound fluids while at the same time maintaining a moist environment conducive to wound healing, the dressing does not address the problem of skin maceration which can occur in the healthy, intact skin surrounding the wound covered by the adhesive of this dressing.
Stated simply, the task of this invention is to devise a means in the vented dressings of the aforementioned Ser. No. 738,983 for preventing skin maceration. In this context, the present invention may properly be said to be directed to an improvement in the vented dressings of this copending application.